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Thread: Benefits of Having A Guru?

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    Red Face Benefits of Having A Guru?

    I am not hindu, but I have studied most of theology and philosophy in a scholarly fashion throughout most of my life. I seek to learn more...

    A little about myself, I practice Zen Buddhism, and I mostly follow the the gods in the Religions Of Palo And Santeria.

    What are the benefits of having a Guru? A real personal teacher.. Is it necessary to have one even if I'm not in officially in this religion, but yet want to embrace it's teachings? How do I go about finding one..What can a Guru teach me first-hand of that which I think I already know?

    Personally, I feel I really need that teacher, a compassionate and understanding person I can openly discuss my views and spirituality with, knowing that this world is material enough it's really difficult to find someone like this openly.

    I would love to know everything I can that is necessary and needed...Thank you.

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    Re: Benefits of Having A Guru?

    Dear Spirit seeker,

    I think you should be clear about the concept of guru.Guru is not always a mere teacher in sanatana dharma. What you have mentioned is probably about teacher who teach indirect knowledge,the theoretical one,philosophy.This you can learn from multiple spiritual teacher as much your cravings is not fulfilled.

    But the GURU meant in sanatan dharma is satguru who is self-realized who has seen the truth and become one with it and was chosen one by truth itself to distribute this nectar of truth to deserving disciples.They give DIRECT knowledge,not theoretical.

    Finding such guru is equivalent to finding truth as both are synonymous.To find him,only way is purity, prayer and penance.

    when truth will chose you,it will send such guru to you.

    Jayaguru
    Man-naathah Shri Jagan-nathah Mat-guru-shri jagad-guruhu.
    Mad-atma sarva-bhutatma tasmai Shri Gurave Namah.


    My Lord is the Lord of Universe; My teacher is the teacher of the
    entire universe; and my Self is the Self of all. My salutations at the lotus-feet
    of such a Guru, who has revealed such knowledge to me.

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    Re: Benefits of Having A Guru?

    Namaste SK.

    As you know,Sanatana-Dharma(Hinduism) has several different paths.
    This means that different hindus will give you different answers.

    I practice gaudiya-vaishnavism,so I will answer you from my point of view.

    God Himself wants us to serve and love a His pure devote: the guru.

    In the Adi-Purana,Lord Krishna says:
    "My dear Partha, one who claims to be My devotee is not so. Only a person who claims to be the devotee of My devotee is actually My devotee."

    So we cannot approach God directly but only tough the guru.

    In order to be the servant of God,first we must become servants of His servant(the guru).

    In conclusion,a guru is absolutely necessary for spiritual realization.

    I strongly suggest you to read the verse 34-35 of fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gita and their purports:
    http://vedabase.net/bg/4/34/en
    http://vedabase.net/bg/4/35/en

    Regards,
    Orlando.

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    Re: Benefits of Having A Guru?

    Namaste,

    Sometimes I see strong urge among the newcomers into Hindu Dharma fold to have a Guru as soon as possible. I would like to share my views which are in line with the views of Sri Ramana Maharishi :

    Please don't rush to have a Guru. Please keep looking and be patient when you strongly feel that it is He you were looking for last many births ... He is your Guru. Anirvan has very clearly stated that a Guru is not merely a teacher. A Guru transforms you from within. He is God incarnate ... considering any difference between one's Guru and God has been considered a grave sin. So, be very very careful in choosing your Guru. If you don't find one now, God wants that you should not have a Guru right now as you are not ready for it.

    Please remember that a blind man cannot show path to another blind man. He who himself has not attained Truth-realisation cannot show you the correct path. There are many fake Gurus available around us having thousands of disciples behind them ... better not join that herd. Have patience and a Guru will be in front of you when you are ready. Keep looking for one for that great opportune moment.

    OM
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

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    Re: Benefits of Having A Guru?

    Quote Originally Posted by Spirit Seeker View Post
    a compassionate and understanding person I can openly discuss my views and spirituality with...
    You can find such discussion partners in forums or other religio-social set ups, but the above is not the right motivation for finding a Guru or Gurus. More than discuss your views, the Guru should end up challenging and changing many of your hard held beliefs.

    Also there are many type of Guru's and they play different roles.

    I am not sure where this superstition of only one Guru who is looking for us over many life times came about, partly because of fairy tale stories around well known religious personalities in India and partly out of context passages picked from various religious texts like tantras, I believe.

    One should actively seek teachers & gurus who can quench one's thirst for knowledge, share the secrets of spirituality, provide empowerment etc. There is no harm in moving from one Guru to another for this purpose, although it is helpful to have one principle guide. Like the bee moves from flower to flower to seek nectar, a seeker should move from teacher to teacher to seek knowledge, said the Kularnava tantra - i believe.
    Why are you unhappy? Because 99.9 per cent Of everything you think, And of everything you do, Is for yourself —And there isn't one

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    Re: Benefits of Having A Guru?

    Vannakkam Spirit Seeker: You have gotten some great advice here. "There is no hurry. There is a misunderstanding about what a guru is," etc.

    Maybe I can add a bit from another view, another Hindu. Firstly, the Guru-devotee relationship is not intellectual at all. Its not like sitting around some tea shop having some lively discussion. In Guru protocol, you ask, He answers. Much of it is about life, not so much about philosophy.

    In a way, you're giving Him permission to criticize you, knowing fully well that good criticism is hard to find. You ego is soft enough to accept this. That's a pretty good start. For example, you may confess something you did, and he will assign a penance, or a specific sadhana, like a doctor will prescribe medicine. So he is there to help you grow spiritually. That's his job, and you willingly accept it.

    I agree and disagree with Twilight Dance about having more than one Guru. Your Mother is your first Guru, and then you can move along up a ladder, so to speak, as you progress along the path. But once you find a True Guru, and know it from the inside out, its probably not a great idea to move on or seek elsewhere. The reason is that it can cause confusion. Within the same sect or sampradaya, with each Guru's permission, that's different. Then its all good. But if you say switch from a Smarta Guru to a Vaishnava Guru, and you've been a good student, you will encounter contradictions. The last thing our intellect needs is confusion.

    One of the reasons you do see this today though, is because of what I said about ego. As soon as the Guru does his job of pointing out a simple fault, some people's ego just goes, "Who does he think he is, telling me what to do?" So they move on. A simple example might be vegetarianism. Suppose you're not one, and the Guru says, "You should become vegetarian." He does this because He knows best. But the devotee with ego just reacts, and says, "Fine. I'll go find a Guru who says I don't really need to be vegetarian then!" and leaves in a huff, proving all along he wasn't ready for a Guru.

    Sorry for the rant.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Benefits of Having A Guru?

    Quote Originally Posted by Twilightdance View Post
    One should actively seek teachers & gurus who can quench one's thirst for knowledge, share the secrets of spirituality, provide empowerment etc. There is no harm in moving from one Guru to another for this purpose, although it is helpful to have one principle guide. Like the bee moves from flower to flower to seek nectar, a seeker should move from teacher to teacher to seek knowledge, said the Kularnava tantra - i believe.
    There is a somewhat similar verse in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

    aṇubhyaś ca mahadbhyaś caśāstrebhyaḥ kuśalo naraḥsarvataḥ sāram ādadyātpuṣpebhya iva ṣaṭpadaḥ 11.8.10

    "Just as the honeybee takes nectar from all flowers, big and small, an intelligent human being should take the essence from all shastras."

    On another note, I think it was Abhinava Gupta (or some other Kashmiri Shaivite) who said that it's better to have a learned guru who is not enlightened than an enlightened guru who is not learned, because an unlearned guru may not be able to explain the teachings.

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    Re: Benefits of Having A Guru?

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    I agree and disagree with Twilight Dance about having more than one Guru. Your Mother is your first Guru, and then you can move along up a ladder, so to speak, as you progress along the path. But once you find a True Guru, and know it from the inside out, its probably not a great idea to move on or seek elsewhere. The reason is that it can cause confusion. Within the same sect or sampradaya, with each Guru's permission, that's different. Then its all good. But if you say switch from a Smarta Guru to a Vaishnava Guru, and you've been a good student, you will encounter contradictions. The last thing our intellect needs is confusion.
    Confusion is a necessary step towards intellectual understanding. Someone who is never confused doesn't learn anything. Even Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita who has the perfect guru standing in front of him, is constantly confused and keeps asking questions. In the end shastra is pramana and not the guru. The guru can only explain the shastra to the best of his abilities. Swami Chinmayananda explains this very well with the example of a telephone message going from one person to another. When the message goes from one person to another, eventually the message gets distorted. That's why it's important to go back to the original teachings. In the case of Vedanta those are the Upanishads which are accepted by both Vaishnavas and Smartas. Some of the Mimansa/ Vedanta acharya's even went to Buddhist teachers to learn.

    The tragedy with the west and also with modern Hindus following dhurta sadhus is that they all become too guru centric and the teachings of the Shastras are getting pushed aside in favor of the works of Ramana, Vivekananda, Eckhart Tolle, Mooji or some other sheep herder. A while back I came in contact with some followers of a western Vaishnava sect who would not belief even what is written in the Valmiki Ramayana, because their guru would say otherwise. Sampradaya is not an excuse for ignorance of shastra. I am sorry to bring this up, but in your case, have you studied the agamas and tantras that are important to Shaiva Siddhanta or have you believed everything from Himalayan Academy? Don't you think it would be smart to look outside of your clique to find out what other gurus in the Shaiva Siddhanta lineage have to teach?
    Last edited by Sahasranama; 23 November 2012 at 04:14 PM.

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    Re: Benefits of Having A Guru?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sahasranama View Post
    Confusion is a necessary step towards intellectual understanding.
    Vannakkam Sahas: Yes, absolutely. There are many steps, and we all make mistakes etc. But to purposefully go looking for it, or do things that make it a habit, or a set pattern that's more or less permanent for this lifetime seems foolish. We all want our way out of confusion, and attain the ultimate goal which is total non-confusion, or the Self. But this is one of the reasons we (not all of us) stand against universalism as well. I think its healthy to know what we think, and to be pretty sure about it.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Benefits of Having A Guru?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sahasranama View Post
    The tragedy with the west and also with modern Hindus following dhurta sadhus is that they all become too guru centric and the teachings of the Shastras are getting pushed aside in favor of the works of Ramana, Vivekananda, Eckhart Tolle, Mooji or some personality.
    In Gaudiya-vaishnavism the "guru-centrism" is the right attitude since guru is supreme among the three binaries of Krishna Consciousness:Guru,Sadhu and Shastra.

    A while back I came in contact with some followers of a western Vaishnava sect who would not belief even what is written in the Valmiki Ramayana, because their guru would say otherwise.
    I wonder if you are talking about ISKCON

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